WITH the euphoria surrounding England's emphatic Grand Slam triumph dominating the headlines, the reincarnation of Thomas Castaignde's international career has gone virtually unnoticed.

The 28-year-old French star, left kicking his heels on the bench for the opening three games of the RBS Six Nations, justified his inclusion in the final two games with two sparkling tries, his first for Les Bleus since his career-threatening injury, and went a long way to booking his place on the plane for Australia in the winter.

"I was pleased with the tries after coming back from such a long time out and I am really happy as I've worked hard to come back to this level," said the French star.

"I was on the bench at the beginning of the competition but I wasn't really fully fit as I had a problem with my back against England. I played 20 minutes though and ten minutes against Scotland and was a bit upset not to play against Ireland but that's the coaches decision and I accept it. But I had my chance against Italy and Wales and I tried to do my best but when the sun is shining it's better for my game."

Having spent a pain-staking 18 months on the sidelines, Castaignde took time to find his feet this season but in the last month has showed signs he is approaching his brilliant best.

"I'm fully fit and it's like I never had anything now and it's like a dream," smiled Castaignde. "It's a big relief because at one stage I thought it was going to be hard to play again but now that is over and I've got only good things to look forward to.

"I've really got some strength in my tackling and I've got all the potential to do well. Every opportunity I have I try to take it."

However, it was lack of opportunities at club level that led to a fall-out with Saracens' head coach Buck Shelford and forced the Frenchman to contemplate his future at the club.

"I think there was some mis-understanding," explained Castaignede. "I didn't understand why he didn't put me in the team but that's his choice. But sometimes I felt it was a bit of waste of time for me but I have to accept it, it's his choice and even if I think he was wrong I couldn't say it. It's over now, I play and do my job and I try not to complain but when you don't play it's hard to accept."

Conscious of his advancing years and the time he has spent out of the game, Castaignde is desperate to land some domestic silverware with Saracens but is concerned that the present team cannot fulfil his ambitions.

"I am happy at Saracens but only happy if Saracens have a good team because I have wasted a lot time being injured and finishing tenth in the league is not my goal," he admitted.

"But I'm part of that situation too but many things have to change if we want to be a better team. I really want to see the type of team when I arrived. We need some players and some confidence. Being in the Heineken Cup would be good and I really want to be there, but would we have the team to be competitive ?.

"I'm always smiling but it's not really easy to as the team is struggling. It's not been a good season. We haven't played well which is quite frustrating because we could have done much better. "

April 7, 2003 09:30